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Mighty Mermaids

I had no idea what I was walking into when I stepped into the community room of a local church to participate in my first group class since I started my fitness journey. I was there to try a new type of workout that my friend Giana Aragon had been trying to get me to join for over a year.

I was never big on group workouts because I felt self-conscious about working out in front of other people. But writing down my own journey has pushed me to branch out and try things that make me uncomfortable. So there I was in my Nikes, t-shirt and spandex shorts (it’s a volleyball player fashion thing I just can’t give up) ready to get started.

The workout was from Beachbody the company that advertises their workouts like INSANITY and 21 Day Fix. Giana and I had agreed to do an interview about her own health journey and becoming a Beachbody Coach after I got to see for myself what it was like to participate in a class.

I went into the interview with the intention of only featuring Giana for my Mighty Mermaids series but after participating there was so much more to write about. After attending one class I met some amazing women with some very motivating stories to share.

I’ll admit it, like many people I have no idea what it means to be a part of the bodybuilding world. All I knew was that competitors are completely ripped and it looked like a lot of hard work. But there had to be more to it than just working out a lot. I wanted to learn what it was like for a woman to compete in a division of this sport. Although I didn’t know much about the process I was sure that I had a lot of misconceptions.

Choose your division

So I reached out to my friend Lauren Watson who is a National Physique Committee Bikini Competitor. If you’re thinking, that sounds cool but what does that actually mean? Let me break it down for you:

There are several divisions you can compete in and each division relates to how much muscle definition you have as an athlete. To view all the potential divisions click here.

Your personality is a big factor in which division you’ll excel in as well. Bikini is a division for less muscularly defined females but, as Lauren describes it, “[they] can pack a punch with stage presence.”

She told me that when you think of bikini competitions, picture fitness models or the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. “I chose to compete in Bikini because of the glam and sassiness you need on stage . . . Bikini fits me best because I have a string-bean body type that is more athletic genetically,” Lauren said.

But it’s not just body type and sass to consider, competitors are also divided into height classes. Grouping the athletes with other women of similar height allows the judges to fairly assess the physique of each competitor. Lauren competes in the 5’9” class and explained that if she were standing next to someone who was 5’0” the body lines and definition the judges look for would be completely different.

About me

Hey there! I’m Regina and I created Regal Mermaid as a positive space to explore what it means to live a healthy lifestyle. I started my own health journey a few years ago after getting diagnosed with an illness. But instead of giving up, I decided to dig deep to overcome the illness and have since lost nearly 60 lbs. I brought my health to a way better place than it was before, and I even became certified as a Personal Trainer at one point in my journey.

I love being active, indulging in tasty and nutritious food, getting lost in a good book, and writing. So why not combine the aspects of my life I’m passionate about and share them?

Learn more about the topics you’ll see on Regal Mermaid by clicking on the About page.